Mark Zuckerberg: “A large part of our society has been emasculated”

Mark Zuckerberg continues his political shift: the boss of Meta has ended programs designed to promote staff diversity, a new decision that aligns the social media giant with Donald Trump. “The legal and policy landscape around diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in the United States is changing,” explains an internal memo reported by Axios on Friday and confirmed by Meta at theAFP.

The parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp is thus reversing an approach adopted for years to create a more inclusive and equitable environment. “We are at the service of all,” assures the note, specifying that the Californian group will continue to seek candidates of diverse origins while removing specific representation objectives for women and ethnic minorities.

Other major US companies such as McDonald’s, Ford, Amazon and Walmart supermarkets have already reversed their “diversity, equality and inclusion” (DEI) policies, after a Supreme Court ruling in 2023 that ended the positive discrimination in universities, one of the achievements of the struggle for civil rights in the 1960s.

“The term ‘DEI’ has become controversial, particularly because it is understood by some as (…) the preferential treatment of certain groups over others,” said Janelle Gale, vice president of human resources at Meta, in his note.

The shift in business takes place in the context of an “anti-woke” offensive led by the Republicans. In California, Elon Musk and his X platform (formerly Twitter) have liberated conservative, even macho, voices that traditionally had little reach in the Democratic and progressive state.

“I think a lot of our society has become… kind of castrated, or emasculated,” Mark Zuckerberg told Joe Rogan, the host of a popular conservative podcast. He said he came to this conclusion through practicing mixed martial arts with other men, who see “the real Mark” in competition, and not just the polished leader trained to speak to the media.

During the long interview broadcast Friday, he again accused the Biden government of “censorship” and regretted having “given too much credit” to the media in the past, rhetoric strongly reminiscent of that of Elon Musk.

Last week, Mark Zuckerberg ended Meta fact-checking in the United States, a fact-checking program by independent organizations around the world, born in response to the flood of disinformation on its platforms, which worried democratic authorities . Instead, his company will set up a “community notes” system, for users who want to add context to certain posts, like on X.

And, again as on X, the content moderation rules on Facebook and Instagram have been relaxed: more insults and calls for the exclusion of women and LGBT+ people from institutions are now authorized.

Mark Zuckerberg has been making advances towards Donald Trump since this summer, and especially since his election, like several of his neighbors and competitors. He had dinner with him in November, donated $1 million to his inauguration ceremony on January 20 and appointed several of his allies to key positions.

He was again Friday at Mar-a-Lago, the current residence of the president-elect in Florida, according to the American press. “I think President Trump just wants America to win, and that makes me optimistic,” he told Joe Rogan.

Shortly after the diversity announcement at Meta, Roy Austin, vice president of civil rights at the company, announced his resignation. “The opportunity to contribute to the creation of a more just and equitable world, even in a small way, has been a driving force for me,” said the man who served as deputy attorney general in the Obama administration, in a message on LinkedIn on Friday.

The turnaround on fact-checking, described as a “shame” by Joe Biden on Friday, caused a wave of concern in many countries, including the UN and the Council of Europe.

If Meta generalized its decision to the whole world, it would have dramatic consequences, warned the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), which brings together more than 130 organizations, including theAFP. L’AFP participates in more than 26 languages ​​in the Meta fact-checking program, which pays more than 80 media outlets around the world to use their “fact-checks” on Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram.